Sony Entertainment extended an apology Friday to the Church of England for their use of the Manchester Cathedral in Resistance: Fall of Man.
The church has been demanding that Sony remove the game from retail outlets and imeddiatly stop selling the game that sports a bloody shootout in front of their cathedral.
Here is the letter that Sony sent to cathedral’s dean, Rev. Rogers Govender:
Dear Dean Govender,
Thank you for your email of 11 June 2007.
Please understand that Resistance: Fall of Man is a work of science fiction.
It is fantasy entertainment set against a backdrop of an alternative reality of 1950’s Britain. History has been rewritten and the Second World War has not happened but a race of alien creatures has attacked the earth and the human race is engaged in a struggle to defend itself from this alien invader.
Early in the time line of the story, Manchester Cathedral is utilised as a field hospital to tend to the human casualties of the war. When the story line reaches chapter 8, the Cathedral is empty and abandoned, no longer used as a place of worship and the sequences that take place inside are to defend the building from the aliens.
We do not accept that there is any connection between contemporary issues of 21st century Manchester and a work of science fiction in which a fictitious 1950’s Britain is under attack by aliens. We believe a comprehensive viewing of the work will make its content and context clear.
Accordingly we would be pleased to demonstrate it to you at a mutually convenient time.
It was not our intention to cause offence by using a representation of Manchester Cathedral in chapter 8 of the work. If we have done so we sincerely apologise.
In conclusion we note that you are consulting lawyers. We confirm that it is our policy to seek all necessary permissions for our products and services, and we believe with this particular work we have done so.
Yours sincerely,
Dr David A Reeves
President
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
In response to Sony’s apology the church has released this statement:
"We acknowledge the admission by Sony that the building in the game is Manchester Cathedral. We thank Sony for the apology they have made.
However, we do not move from the position that we are against violence and especially the gun violence seen in this portrayal of the Cathedral.
We are pleased that Sony wish to come and meet with us in Manchester as today we offered them such an invitation.
In the meeting with Sony we will discuss our outstanding demands, how this game came to be produced and where the images of the Cathedral came from."
President & CEO
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